Return To Sender
by BattyBigSister
Summary: Arr geez, Max and Alec had a fight and now Alec's trying to write her a letter of apology, but there seems to be a problem getting it to her. Based on that great Elvis classic by the same name.
1. Chapter 1 Return To Sender

**Title:** Return to Sender

**Disclaimer:** Due to unfortunate circumstances beyond my control, i.e. Fox, I do not own Dark Angel. I don't own the song either, but I don't have a clue who does.

**Author:** The one. The only. Well, it's gotta be … no, not her … I meant Big Sister…

**Rating: **G 

**Summary: **Arr geez, Max and Alec had a fight and now Alec's trying to write her a letter of apology, but there seems to be a problem. Based on that great Elvis classic by the same name.

**Timeline:** Season 2

**Couples:** M/A

**Author's Note:** This has been mulling over in my mind for a while now – thought I would write it down so that I finally had an M/A fic out there and you guys would stop mistaking me for an M/L shipper. I'm not! I'm a M/OC shipper – seriously! Why don't people ever believe me when I say that?

**Author's second note:** Yes, I know. Alec lives in Brain's old apartment, and as we all quite clearly saw in Brainiac, his mail is delivered to a small box downstairs. Let's just assume that for some reason that's out of action and they are doing door-to-door delivery instead or possibly that he bribed the postman to bring his mail up for him. Either way – it's brought up to his apartment in this story.

Alec fingered the small blue envelope in his hand nervously. He must have written this letter a thousand times before settling on the final script. He had stolen the paper from some old ladies' dressing table on his last heist, thinking Max might like it, because everything had to be prefect right? Or she would never forgive him.

He stared at the smooth curves of his own handwriting. Was there something he had forgotten to say? Something he had explained wrong? Something that would annoy her all over again? No, he'd been here five times this morning already. This had to be right.

Alec took a deep breath and dropped it in the post box.

There. It was done. It was sent. Special delivery. Couldn't fail. Now all he had do was wait. There was that fence in Sector 12 he been meaning to talk to about those televisions …

________________________________________________________________

Steam drifted of his glistening golden muscles, as Alec stepped lazily into his living room dressed in nothing but a single blue towel. Damn that had been a good shower. Just what he needed to wake himself up in the morning.

He was just about to make himself some breakfast, when his sensitive hearing picked out the sound of his mail dropping onto the mat. In a split second he was beside door rifling through it. There were some bills. Some adverts for porn he might be interested in. Some adverts for other stuff he definitely wouldn't. A letter from that girl from that club in sector 4 – you know, if she kept this up he might just pay her a visit – and … his heartbeat stopped. His own blue envelope, with the words RETURN TO SENDER stamped across it in large bold letters.

He dropt everything, shooting out of the door as if he'd been shot from a gun.

"Wait! Please!" Alec cried. He was in luck. The postman had only moved on another couple of doors. "Please! _Wait up_!"

"What the hell?" the postman looked suitably stunned as Alec nearly collided into him. He was a weedy little man in his late forties, with a scowl that looked like it had been glued in position.

"Please!" the younger man gasped, "You have to deliver this letter! I know it's the right address! I went to visit her there just last week! _Please_!"

The postman paused, bewildered, starting at the letter this strange young man was holding out to him.

"It says 'Return to Sender' on that envelope!" he finally said.

"I know, but there has got to be some mistake. I know she lives there!"

"Okay! Okay!" the postman sighed, shrugging, "Pop it in my bag here and we'll see what I can do." He held out his postage sack and Alec carefully placed the letter inside.

"By the way, son," the postman smiled, turning away to get back to his rounds, "Nice outfit!"

Alec glanced down at his damp towel and sighed. "It had better be worth all this trouble, Maxie," he muttered, heading back to his apartment.

________________________________________________________________

The next morning found Alec hunched over a cup of nearly cold coffee, staring into space. Or at least, _trying_ to stare into space. His eyes kept darting to the door without his permission.

He didn't know why. It wasn't like there was going to be anything spectacularly interesting coming through it.

Finally he heard what he was waiting for. The clink of the letterbox closing and the thud as the morning post hit the mat.

Alec took a long sip of his coffee. This was nothing to be nervous about. There was probably nothing there. There _was_ nothing there. The postman would have taken the letter round to Max's yesterday and that would have ended the matter.

There was no reason to have any doubts about today's post.

Slowly he put his coffee mug back down on the table. _There was nothing there. _He got to his feet, taking his time to inspect the side of the table. _Just bills and yet another letter from that girl in Sector 4._ He shuffled his feet as he slowly made his way to his front door. _He was being paranoid._ He slowly lowered his eyes to the mat and … his heart sank to somewhere around his knees.

There right at the top of the small pile of today's post lay his little blue envelope. Across it's front someone had put a new stamp beneath the old one ADDRESS UNKNOWN, and just in case he hadn't got that message some bright spark had scribbled in pencil underneath it _' No such person. No such home.'_

Alec felt like he was going to be sick.

________________________________________________________________

The young X5 slumped down next to the Original Cindy on the bench in front of the lockers.

"Aiight, what's up boo?" she asked immediately upon witnessing the look on his face.

"You seen Max anywhere?" he shot back at her.

"No, nat since breakfast," OC replied, "She be in _later_, as always_._ Just in time for lunch. Why? Are you having trouble with my girl?"

"It's nothing," Alec shrugged, "We had a quarrel,"

"A _lover's spat_!" OC laughed.

Alec ignored that. "I write I'm sorry, but my letters keep coming back."

"You _what?_" OC cried, but Alec wasn't listening. He had just spotted Max coming in through the door. Waving OC aside, he strode passed Normal who was about to give his MissyMiss his firing speech once again, and pulled the letter, in a nice fresh envelope, out of his pocket.

He shoved it roughly into her hand.

"What's this?" Max asked, staring at it.

"You know what that is," Alec replied, "And if this comes back the very next day, then … then…" he glanced up into her beautiful brown eyes, "Then I'll understand."


	2. Chapter 2 Epilogue

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Dark Angel or the Song used in this chapter.

**Author's Note:** I've rewritten this too bring the whole thing to a close. I suppose I needed another part because the last left a lot of unanswered questions, but I couldn't simply add this to the last chapter because – well none of this has anything to do with the song… although this was originally intended as a Standalone…

It was early morning by now, but the party at Crash was only just getting started. People were laughing and dancing, celebrating the arrival of the weekend with pre-pulse songs and cheap beer. The lights had been dimmed to a mute glow and the sounds of loud music made the two smallish rooms throb with a heavy beat.

Max burst out laughing, "You are joking, right?"

"Nah-ah," OC grinned, "This is the straight-up truth. Hot-boy's been trying to write a 'letter of ap-pol-ogy' for the last coupla days – but he ain't figured out that as far as the postal service is concerned you and me don't exist. The building is abandoned. The house is empty – and we girls ain't nothing but squat-terrrs." She chuckled and punched her friend on the arm playfully.

Max nodded and flashed her a smile, "And you didn't set him straight? Shame on you Cindy…"

The chocolate woman beside her shrugged, her dark eyes sparkling. "He ran off to do his little 'Love me or Leave Me' dealio, afore the Original Cindy could open her mouth. Deserves all he gets." She winked mischievously at her companion.

Max chuckled. "Yeah, I guess," she sighed turning away.

"You gonna open that, boo?" the Original Cindy put in with a pointed and shamelessly nosy glance at the envelope in her friend's hands. Max suddenly realised she'd been running her fingers up and down the crisp white paper for the last fifteen minutes.

She took a deep breath. Her grip tensed, as she stared hard at the smooth flowing script that outlined her address. Then she smiled, and stuffed the envelope away in her pocket.

"No," she explained to Cindy as she got off her stool, "I'm not. I don't need too. I already know what I'm gonna do."

"So, he's forgiven?" Cindy called after her friend, as she turned to leave.

Max turned around flashed her roommate a mischievous smirk, "What do you think?"


End file.
